Dawes Family in New Zealand

That Time Again!

Ho ho ho! Yep it’s Christmas time again in upside down land!

As always October brings a flurry of getting a list prepared of people we need to buy and send gifts or cards to in the UK, as well as other family in Germany and the US.  From October I can expect my mind to be in a whole whirl of jobs to do and things to do before a certain date. The effort that goes into selecting presents to send is immense, it’s not as easy just picking something, it not only has to be small and as light as possible, I also like to get something Kiwi themed!

Then of course by the time I have all that done and posted it’s time to get organised here with Bethany’s birthday and our own Christmas celebrations – it never stops!

Of course the good news about having upside down weather is that its time to start tending to the garden again.  I love this time of the year when I can get out in the garden and start planting and caring for the fruit and veggies. Everything is well under way with seedlings growing since August, already the peppers are turning red and the strawberries, tomatoes and cucumbers are sprouting.

My best and most excitable thing this year is growing Brussels Sprouts!! However they won’t be ready for our Christmas dinner this year sadly. Oooo I’m such a gardening geek!

Last weekend we went to get the Christmas tree. We were going to wait till a little closer to Christmas but to be honest our weekends are looking pretty full with Bethany’s birthday celebrations and the fact all her friends are having birthdays at this time of the year too. So we decided last weekend was a good time.

We bought a tree from the place we did last year, sadly a hike in the price which was quite cheeky but we did come away with a gorgeous bushy 7ft tree…and with all the decorations on it looks and smells gorgeous!

We haven’t as yet put any presents under the tree – we all know Baileys behaviour don’t we?! So far building a dining chair wall around the tree whilst we are out at work seems to have done the trick!

I have some time off over Christmas which is great, as mentioned in an earlier post the stress from worrying about childcare really took it’s toll on me this year, I have found it extremely worrying. However in the form of an Angel, also one of my best friends, I have managed to organise a wonderful place for Bethany to go for 3 weeks, which puts my mind at ease immensely. I don’t think I will ever be able to thank her enough.

The time seems to fly by now, and the days start to blur into one with going to work every day! Yet life of course is still wonderful and it’s lovely at this time of the year to know that family and friends still think of you. Getting a Christmas card from those we miss dearly means the world to us.

The countdown is on – 13 more sleeps! Hope you are all ready!!!